


To All Your Counterparts

by Raven_Novak



Category: Sense8 (TV)
Genre: M/M, Self-Acceptance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-28
Updated: 2015-07-28
Packaged: 2018-04-11 18:21:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4446806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raven_Novak/pseuds/Raven_Novak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>His limbs stretch across continents, sprawling and boundless. Sometimes he is male, other times, female, and everything feels alien and familiar all at once.</em> </p><p> <br/>  <em>His name is Lito Rodriguez. But he is also Will Gorski and Riley Blue. He is Nomi Marks, and Sun Bak, and Wolfgang Bogdanow, and Kala Dandekar, and Capheus Van Damme. He is eight different people all at once, but Hernando could care less.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	To All Your Counterparts

Lito has become used to seeing people when they aren’t really there, like ghosts or apparitions of some sort. It had terrified him at first, confused and bewildered him. But as time continues to pass he finds himself becoming more and more comfortable with the phenomena. It’s unnerving, really.  


He’ll be in the kitchen while Hernando cooks and suddenly find Sun there with him, sitting sullenly in the corner in the blue prison uniform which she wears for the sins of her brother. Later that same day he’ll be talking with Daniela, only to find himself suddenly in the middle of an arid dusty street beside a van with a mural painted on the side. But perhaps the strangest thing about these occurrences is the fact that they don’t surprise him, or at least not anymore. Most of the time, he knows exactly what’s going on, listens to people speak to him in tongues that he shouldn’t be able to understand, smile at him as if they have known him all his life even though they are complete strangers. As if nothing has changed. And then he’ll be back at his home, his lover and his friend exchanging worried glances about his increasing absentmindedness.  


Hernando brings it up to him, once, two days after they get Daniela back. Lito’s lip is still swollen, and there are cuts from where the skin split beneath the impact of fists against his flesh, but the physical pain pays him no mind. Not when he almost lost Daniela. Lost Hernando.  


“Lito, are you all right?” he asks in a hushed voice as they drink their morning coffee in the kitchen, Daniela in the next room reading a book. Normally Lito would have to be at work by now, shooting some scene or another, but he hasn’t gone since the fight with Joaquin, and he’s ignored every phone call. It won’t be long until someone’s here knocking on his door, be it the director, or the producer, or worse yet, the press. So here he is trying to enjoy the present, sipping coffee and looking into Hernando’s dark eyes from beyond his scrunched eyebrows and thick glasses. Lito sighs, pushing the mug aside as the ceramic makes a scraping sound against the counter. He considers telling the truth for a moment, telling him about the sensates.  


But honesty has never been in Lito’s nature, not when he’s always juggled so many lies his entire life. He’s working on it, though, and he’s getting better. But now is not the time for this conversation. Someday, soon, but not today.  


“I’m fine,” Lito says with a forced smile which is below par of his acting skills. Hernando raises a sardonic eyebrow in a way that is undeniably endearing. “I’m just… worried.”  


And they leave it at that. Hernando doesn't ask again, and Lito hadn’t been lying, not entirely. He is worried. He’s worried about Riley and Will and the others. He’s worried about Whispers and the other people hunting them. He’s worried about the photographs, even if he’d rather have Hernando, and he’s worried that the press hasn’t been flooding his doorstep yet. Everything is quiet. And for someone who grew up with constant noise - be it the hum of a television screen, the chatter of family, or the buzz of human life from outside the window - silence is terrifying.

 

* * *

 

The lightning finally strikes five days after they rescue Daniela. It starts with another call from his director, who to Lito’s surprise still hasn’t showed up pounding at his door. Lito promptly ignores the call, only to receive another a minute later from an unidentified number. And then another after that. And another still.  


Hernando, who is sitting across from Lito at the kitchen island, casts him an apprehensive glance. In the next room, Daniela’s voice drifts to them. “Um, guys?”  


Lito’s muscles tense as he makes his way over to Daniela, who steps aside for him to look at the tiny screen of the camera mounted above the front door of the building. A crowd is gathered there - photographers, reporters, paparazzi - all entreating him for entrance, for answers. He can feel Hernando’s hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly in what little comfort he can provide. However, it’s Daniela who looks to him with her large black eyes, voicing the question accosting all of them. “What are you going to do?”  


Lito swallows, closing his eyes in a moment of contemplation. He can feel his pulse fluttering rapidly beneath his skin, his heart pounding and his lungs expanding with shallow, steady breaths. He is afraid, he can feel it in the pit of his stomach. But he is not alone.  


He has Hernando and Daniela here. But that isn’t it. He can feel all of them inside of his mind, his heart, under his skin. In this moment, he is Sun’s courage. He is Wolfgang’s doggedness, and Capheus’ optimism. He is Nomi’s tact, and Riley’s empathy. Kala’s resourcefulness, and Will’s courage. He has faced crime lords, and gangs, and corporate greed, oppression and hostility in many different forms.  


He is bigger than this. And suddenly, the whole situation seems trite and insignificant. What is his career when there is so much more at stake?  


With newfound resolution, Lito turns to his friend and his lover, his eyes brushing over Daniela but ultimately settling on Hernando. Lito reaches out, his fingers brushing against the other man’s before entwining with them. There is a question on Hernando’s face, but at the contact of their skin it abruptly dissolves into understanding, and then shock, something dangerously close to fear.  


_“Ven, mi amor,”_ he whispers, leading him to the door. Hernando allows himself to be led, reluctantly at first, but then he begins to make his way of his own volition. Daniela follows behind as they move through out of the apartment and to the stairs, down to the front entrance. There are voices beyond the door, shouting statements and inquiries which make Lito’s head whirl. But they don’t matter. It isn’t important. He tells himself this as he steps outside, Hernando’s hand still in his, and he faces the flash of cameras.  


His grip tightens around Hernando’s, and right then and there, that feeling of pressure in his fingertips which travels around the globe to seven other people, is more than enough.

 

 

* * *

 

Later that night they lie in bed together, saying nothing, but sharing each other’s warmth. Daniela is asleep on the couch in the other room, the soft sounds of her breathing echoing from across the way. Lito latches onto it, unable as always to stand the silence, and he wraps himself tighter around Hernando’s embrace, feeling the rise and fall of his chest against his head.  


“I’m proud of you,” murmurs Hernando finally at about 1:00 AM, when both of them are pretending to be asleep. The corner of Lito’s mouth upturns, and he presses a kiss to his lover’s forehead, beneath locks of curly black hair.  


Lito’s career is in shambles, and the chances of him getting another acting gig are likely null. He has money for now, but with the passage of time and the barrage of paparazzi, he’ll probably have to move out and into someplace more affordable by the end of the month. His life is more uncertain than it’s ever been, and he is exposed and vulnerable, but Lito Rodriguez has never felt happier.  


He has never been more honest.

His limbs stretch across continents, sprawling and boundless. Sometimes he is male, other times, female, and everything feels alien and familiar all at once.  


His name is Lito Rodriguez. But he is also Will Gorski and Riley Blue. He is Nomi Marks, and Sun Bak, and Wolfgang Bogdanow, and Kala Dandekar, and Capheus Van Damme. He is eight different people all at once, but he knows in his heart that Hernando could care less.

**Author's Note:**

> I absolutely loved this show, and I can't wait for season 2. I knew that I wanted to write something for it, and honestly I don't know what I expected it to be, but this is what I ended up with. Mostly Lito and Hernando. Because they're my favorites. But really, I love them all.


End file.
